Dress-stiffener



NyUENmNS. Dress-Stiffener.

225,754. Med Mw 23, 88;

ip/i

ESS E S f7-*Mv ffm UNITED STATES PATENT )FEICE NICHCLAS JENKINS, 0F NEV HAVEN, CONNECTICUT.

nREssV-'STIFF'ENi-m.

nlcmos'rron forming pm of Letters Patent no. 225,754, amd mmh' 23,-1sso.

.LpplicatlouledSeptemher16,1270. I

To all' whom it may concern: f Be it known that I, NmHoLA-s JENKINS, of the city and county of New Haven, in the State of Connecticut, have inventedcertaiu -new and 5 usefullmprovements relating to Sti'eners or Y SpringsforuseinClothing and other Purposes,

. .ofwhich the following is a specification.

-I make a strong, elastic, andr sufficiently rigid `stii`ener, adapted for use in corsets, skirts, xo and other articles of dress, and for analogous f uses, entirely ofsmall wire. f I will describe the stitiener as a dat spring adapted for. use in corsets and skirts. The wire should be'spring-brass, hard iron, or steel;

x5 I weave, by an ordinary narrow-ware loom,

or otherwise, a tape of wire-cloth, and subsequentlyv fold over the edges upon the main hodyfso asie' cause'the edges to nearly or quite abut together. l can e'ect this either zo in connection with means for compressing the material tightly together, thus forming a very at product, or (as for many uses will be preferable) I can leave the folds a little up from 'the body, thereby making a rounder product. z5.. Modifications in the proportions and construction may be usefully made, some of which may. be better adapted than others to particullr uses. lI willA represent several modes of carrying' ont the invention. The'accompanying drawings form a part of lthis specification, and represent what I consider the best means of carrying out the invention. Figures 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 13 15, and 16 are side 35 views. Figs. 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, and 14 are cross-sections through the lco1'npletely-i`f )rmed spriugs,`to` which they respectively stand opposite. Fig. 11 isa side-view of `a short length partly formed.- Fig. 12 is a cross section through the completely-formed part. Fig. 15- is a side view of one end of a completed spring,l showing the wires` drawn together and soldered. Fig. 16 is a side -view of -my spring made in a. gradually-tapering form for lspecial 45 Purposes. L 1

Similar letters ofl refemispee indicate corres din parts in.v l the gnres. v polefergng to'Figs. 11 and 12, A is the back or. main body of a narrow fabric, and A' A 5o are folds thereof. ,The material is-tlrst formed sti'ener thereby produced may sary.

as a tape of wire-cloth, preferably with selvnge j at cach edge. The longitudinal wires or warp are of cast-steel with a .springteiupen -f'lhe transverse Wires or Woof are of softer steeho may be o fa tough iron. Thisisi'ohcd'bybeing 55 passed through between suitable rollers, or through a Douglass binder,y orliothfsdasto initiate the folds A A2,- and to gradually and uniformly lay them over upon the m'ain body A. When the article is complete,VA and .the edges al a2 yare protected by being' folded in,- ward towardthefmain body, my improved be used in ythe same manner and with the sanieetect as springs of whalebonc or other ordinary material, and vwith the advantage of increased strength and toughness, owing to the 'rigidityjand strength of the" tirate-riale, wliiclf'irupart avery great capacity to resist fracture ,or a permanent set, and the iineness into which-its '7.0 several parts are divided, which give it great capacity for yielding to-strain`s when. neces- Refeiuing to Figs. 3 and 4,11 and b repre- -sent respective sets of steel 4wires braidedQtogether to form a tubular sti'ener.

.Referring to Figs. 5 and 6, Fig.' 5 is a side' view,and Fig.6 a cross-section, 'ofatape woven. sufiiciently narrow andthick to' serve directly as a stidener for garments without the necessity for folding.

Figs. 9 and 10 represent another modification of this general plan.

Figs. 7 and 8 represent a nearly iiat tape, made by braiding the wires together iu the085 form of ar elastic tube throughout, andtherL attening thetube' thus formed.

Referring to Figs. 13 and 14, ab is aset'of steel wires, braided together by suitable machinery, constituting a fabric similar to that shown in Figs. 3 and 4and c dis another set of wires, braided as a covering upon the set a b. -The compound fabric thus produced is pecu liarly tough and elastic.

Referring to Fig. 15, the spring', wrought in' the main according to any of the modifica-- tions, is contracted at the ends by bringing the wires together, where the joined by soldering. R is a are strongly rop of solder.

It is skillfully applied to present a rounded roo i triplev functionsI oft y andl annlogous articles.

, f larger end, may be filled by 15 tapered core of tough and elastic rnatase'riel.`

zo coated with gold.

dropet the end.

securing the ends, of the wire against displacement, .contributing to the stiffness of the spring near the ends and A '5 producing asmooth'and round end, so as te j nyoid injuring may be need,

Referring to of nearly helical steel wires, braided together',

agarinent in Ywhich the spring xo eorrespondiyngto what is .shown in Figsand 4, but soas to form wtaperiug structure.

This is especiallyada-pted for. whiplh;n1dles The interior, at the a correspondingly The spring 'may be -used for ztfgreat variety of purposes.' Braceletsnnd other articles of- This solder performs. the

Fig, 16, a b represent two sets:

scribed, composed of two or more elastic wires ',wevenfogether. with their ends brought to-y gether and united by solder, so u s "to 'present smooth ends, adapted for use in'dresses, as herein specified.

`2.--The double metallic spring for dresses, hav-ing. two separate sets of Wires, a b and, c'd, woven one wit-bin the other, with the ends united by solder R, all substantially as herein specified. l

. In testimony whereof I have hereunto set niy -h-and: this 2d day of August, 187 9, in the pres'- .INIC'HOLAS JENKINS.

CHARLES LEPPEB.

ence of two subscribing witnesses. l 

